How Gen Y is changing the corporate workplace

Re:How Gen Y is changing the corporate workplace by Shenglong on Monday August 20, 2012 @11:49AM (#4408113)

One part of this article I want to address is 'respect'. Speaking as a gen y, if I give an opinion at work, I do expect it to be considered - but that's not due to some sense of entitlement. If I've taken the time to give an opinion on a topic at work, I'm jepordizing my reputation; I'm giving my peers and superiors a chance to evaluate me. This neccesarily means I've thought about what I said, I believe it's actually a good idea. Young people often times do have good ideas, and it's important not to dismiss their validity.

It's unfortunate that some older people can't grasp this concept. In business, where adaptivity is key, I find this not to be so much of a problem. However, academia seems to be the exact opposite. Last year, one professor told me to express my opinion once I "have over 30 years of HR experience". Meanwhile I was thinking, "that'll be 30 years too late."

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Re:How Gen Y is changing the corporate workplace by Kynlyn on Monday August 20, 2012 @12:58PM (#4408522)

Yes, but there are plenty of times that younger workers come up with what they think is a brilliant idea. In reality, it's the same broken idea that other people have come up with before and it's already proven to not work. Just because you have just now come up with the idea doesn't provide any more merit to it.

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Re:How Gen Y is changing the corporate workplace by whazzmaster on Monday August 20, 2012 @01:16PM (#4408623)

I'm not a Gen Yer, but I must respond that the situation you describe really should be a teachable moment to the younger worker; explain to them why their idea may have been tried before and failed, or perhaps it was fundamentally unsound for a reason they hadn't thought of.

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Re:How Gen Y is changing the corporate workplace by Kynlyn on Monday August 20, 2012 @01:21PM (#4408659)

I agree that it should be a teaching exercise. But I've seen countless times where it turns into "Those old guys just don't understand!" even when they are explained, excruciatingly so, how their idea has already been attempted.

For example...I've had younger developers come to me with a brilliant new approach to development. Their idea? Basically, it was waterfall. No matter how much I explained to them that their idea had been tried and failed, they insisted that they were on to something new and exciting.

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Re:How Gen Y is changing the corporate workplace by adestefan on Monday August 20, 2012 @12:20PM (#4408294)

This must be a two way street. Many older people have their ideas and opinions dismissed for various reasons and biases of younger workers, too.

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